’Cats bounce back in a big way: UNH and Boston College break even

DURHAM — Senior forward John Henrion was right when he called the University of New Hampshire hockey team’s 2-1 victory over Boston College Saturday a “must-win.”

It was big for the Wildcats’ self-esteem after a lackluster performance in Friday’s loss and vital if they consider themselves serious contenders for the Hockey East regular-season crown.

A loss Saturday would have dropped UNH six points behind the league-leading Eagles. With a split of the home-and-home series, the Wildcats remain two points back with a game in hand which is where they began the weekend.

“We were a little bit angry after (Friday) night,” Henrion said. “When you’re play a team like that a split weekend is a pretty good weekend. This was a must-win, I think, for us to get at least two points on the weekend.”

The Wildcats earned those two points after shaking off a potentially deflating giveaway in their zone that resulted in the tying goal in the third period.

“We stayed pretty steady,” Henrion said. “We had our chances all game. We knew if we kept attacking their D-men that things were going to come back our way.”

Right again. Henrion scored the game winner on a backhander with less than five minutes remaining in the third period.

He collected the rebound of a shot by defenseman Justin Agosta for his seventh goal of the season and second in three games.

“Justin made a great play,” Henrion said. “Coach (Scott) Borek has been telling me to get to the front of the net when he’s got the puck, so I just sat there. The rebound came right to me and I just put it in.”

It came on his eighth shot of the game.

“He had a couple of great chances earlier in the game,” said coach Dick Umile, “so it was great that he scored the winner. John’s having a terrific year for us.”

The Wildcats outshot BC, 39-23, including 21-3 in the second period when they spent 11 minutes on the power play, including two minutes with a two-man advantage.

Henrion’s goal was on the power play, 13 seconds after BC’s Kevin Hayes was penalized for tripping.

“Good thing we made up for that,” Henrion said. “We had a bunch of chances on the power play. Ton of shots on net. We couldn’t bury it. To get one on the power play, that made it even better.

“There was a lot of urgency,” he added. “We knew that was a big chance. It could have been a huge turning point in the game.”

It was, but the Wildcats had to endure some anxious moments down the stretch. Especially when it looked like UNH was going to face a penalty shot with less than two minutes left for covering the puck in the crease.

To the Wildcats’ relief, it turned out to be a false alarm.

“I was right by the net and I had the puck,” Henrion said. “I made sure I told the linesman that. I had the puck. It wasn’t covered with his hand. Obviously a pretty scary feeling, but I think we were pretty confident that there would be no penalty shot.”

UNH held on from there to snap a six-game losing streak against the Eagles. The Wildcats also beat BC at the Whittemore Center for the first time in almost four years.

They were 0-5-2 against the Eagles during that stretch.

“Everyone came to the rink ready to go,” Henrion said. “We were really excited about the challenge.”

Especially after Friday night when BC scored five goals in the first two periods on only 17 shots.

“I think were a lot more energized and wanted the puck,” said sophomore forward Matt Willows, whose first career goal in the final minute of the second period gave UNH a 1-0 lead. “I feel like as a whole we picked up our game to a whole new level. We needed to. They’re a great team. We needed to give it 110 percent and we did that.”

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Once again the line of Willows, Jay Camper and Dan Correale made its presence felt all over the ice.

They’ve figured in six goals in the last four games. Correale, a freshman, did most of the work on Willows’ goal Saturday night.

“I chipped (the puck) to Dan and he drove hard and beat the defenseman outside and got the puck to me and I finished it,” Willows said. “Good play by him.”

With the puck on his stick, Willows waited for goalie Parker Milner to go down and then lifted it over him with 46.3 seconds to go in the second period.

“That was huge for him,” Umile said. “Mattie’s got a good shot. It’s good to see him score. He works real hard. He’s quick, he’s smart and he’s been playing terrific for us. He provides a lot of energy for the guys on the bench the way he plays.”